Table 3 Studies investigating the effect of curriculum focussed active breaks on academic and physical activity outcomes
Paper/ country | Study design | Sample size | Age | Intervention | Duration | Delivery | Physical activity measure | Academic outcome measure | Study quality | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vazou et al., 2012 [44] Greece | Within-subject | n = 147 | Years 4 to 6 | 10 mins MPA active break incorporating language arts, math and social studies Dose: unclear | 2 weeks | Senior primary education student teachers | None | Academic motivation: Intrinsic Motivation Inventory | Moderate | Academic motivation: Perceived academic competence increased in intervention compared with control. (F = 4.87, p < 0.05) |
Goh et al., 2016 [57] USA | Within-subject | Students: n = 210 Classes: n = 9 Schools: n = 1 | Aged 8 to 12 years Year 3 to 5 | Take 10! = 10 min active breaks incorporating language arts, math, science, social studies and general health Dose: determined by teacher | 8 weeks | Teacher | None | On-task behaviour: direct observation | Moderate | On-task behavior: significant increase in percent on-task behavior from pre-TAKE 10! (82.3 ± 4.5) to post TAKE 10! (89.5 ± 2.7) |
Erwin et al., 2013 [41] USA | Quasi-experimental | Students: n = 29 Schools: n = 1 Classes: n = 2 | Mean age: 8.87 years Year 3 | 20 + minutes active break incorporating math and reading Dose: daily | 20 weeks | Teacher | Intervention effects of PA on academic outcomes: Pedometer (Walk4Life, LS2500) | Reading and Mathematics: curriculum based measures (CBM), teacher reported grades & standardised test scores (T-PRO, STAR and Discovery Education Assessment) | Moderate | Mathematics: higher scores in intervention compared with control group at time 3 (Mdiff = 10.87, p = 0.003), but not time 1 (Mdiff = 2.75, p = 0.39) or 2 (Mdiff = 2.16, p = 0.49) Reading: higher scores in intervention group at time 1 (Mdiff = 79.46, p < 0.01), time 2 (Mdiff = 87.41, p < 0.01), time 3 (Mdiff = 92.46, p < 0.01) Standardised test scores: Trend towards improvement |
Bailey & DiPerna., 2015 [40] USA | Multiple baseline design | Students: Mean of 16 Year 1 and 14 Year 2 students /classroom Schools: n = 1 Classes: n = 6 | Years 1 & 2 | Energisers = approx. 10 to 20 min active break incorporating core curriculum Dose: twice daily | 5, 7 or 9 weeks | Teacher | School day PA: New-Lifestyles Accelerometer (NL-800): | Intervention acceptability: student and teacher questionnaire | Weak | Intervention acceptability: Most teachers strongly agreed (11%) or agreed (89%) that Energisers did not adversely affect learning. Most teachers strongly agreed (11%) or agreed (67%) that students were better able to pay attention following Energisers 76% of students reported being able to pay better attention in class following Energisers Physical activity: intervention significantly increased school based steps (ES = 0.71 to 1.26) |
Fedewa et al., 2015 [42] USA | RCT | Students:> n = 460 Schools: n = 4 | Years 3 to 5 | 5 min active breaks incorporating core curriculum, totaling 20 mins PA per day Dose: daily | 1 year | Teacher | To explain variance in fluid intelligence and academic achievement scores: pedometer (Walk4Life) | Fluid intelligence: Standard Progressive Matrices Reading and Mathematics: Measures of Academic Progress | Weak | Mathematics: improvement in intervention, compared with control group: t(33) = 2.17, p = 0.04 Reading: improvement in intervention, compared with control group t(32) = 1.69, p = 0.10 Fluid intelligence: no difference between groups t(36) = 0.23, p = 0.82 |
Grieco et al., 2009 [43] USA | Within subject | Students: n = 97 Schools: n = 1 Classes: n = 9 | Age 8 to 10 years | Texas I-CAN = one 10–15 min MVPA active break incorporating math, language arts, science, social studies and health Dose: one off lesson | 1-day | Teacher | To compare PA among BMI groups: pedometer (Omron HJ 105) | On-task behaviour: direct observation | Weak | On-task behaviour: slight increase after intervention lesson compared with control, although not significant (F 1,94 = 2.19,p > 0.10) |
Mahar et al., 2006 [22] USA | Cluster RCT with multiple baseline design | Students: n = 243 Schools: n = 1 Classes: n = 15 | Kindergarten to Year 4 | Energisers = approx. 10 mins active break incorporating core curriculum Dose: daily | 4 or 8 weeks | Teacher | School day PA: Pedometer (Yamax SW-200) | On-task behaviour: direct observation (assessed in 2 Year 2, and 2 Year 4 classes) | Weak | On-task behaviour: Improvement in intervention, compared with control group (ES = 0.60). Greatest improvement in on-task behavior for students most off-task (ES = 2.20). Physical activity: intervention group took more in school steps, compared with control group (ES = 0.49) |